This application is a competitive renewal for a Training Grant in Developmental and Perinatal Endocrinology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati. Its purpose is to train M.D.s and Ph.D.s for careers as independent investigators in academic medicine. The program will provide funding for a total of sic postdoctoral fellows and three Ph.D. candidates within the University of Cincinnati Graduate Program. The Faculty Advisors consist of twenty established investigators with major interests in developmental and perinatal endocrinology from three clinical and three basic science departments. The research themes include the regulation of trophoblast differentiation and function in the regulation of decidualization, the role of growth factors in mammalian development, the molecular biology of the growth hormone, prolactin and placental lactogen gene family, and mechanisms of hormone action. The faculty share research interests and have a history of collaboration. Each has NIH funding for his/her research and has an established record as a mentor for graduate and/or postdoctoral students. The Program will include an administrative core consisting of the Program Director, an Executive Committee and External and Internal Advisory Boards. Also include are a seminar series, an annual review of the progress of candidates, and a yearly symposium designed for presentation of studies generated by the graduate and postdoctoral students within the program. Predoctoral trainees will obtain their Ph.D. degrees in the Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, the Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology, and the Program in Developmental Biology of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Postdoctoral trainees must have the M.D. or Ph.D. degree, or both. Special attention will be given to recruitment of minorities and to M.D./Ph.D. candidates. The studies for each trainee will include a course focused on ethical issues in the conduct of science. Progress of each trainee will be reviewed annually by the Executive Committee. It is anticipated that the Training Program will continue to be successful in preparing trainees for research careers in an important area of academic medicine.